“It’s through these relationships that real, tangible change can happen.”

Dan Beedell joined east to west 10 years ago after discovering them at a local church. Originally a part time Relational Support Worker, Dan is now part of the senior leadership team and an enthusiastic champion of the charity and its fundraising.

“The reason why east to west are so effective at what they do is that we take the time to build relationships with those we support. Because we know them, we know what is happening, and we have a better understanding as to why. It’s through these relationships that real, tangible change can happen.”

east to west is a Surrey based charity supporting over 1,000 local children, young people and their families. The children and young people who work with east to west often struggle with self-harming, bullying, broken family relationships, abuse and homelessness. Through one to one and group sessions east to west listen and care for each young person they support. Their help often goes beyond listening; accompanying children to doctor’s appointments or food banks, or connecting them with a social worker or specialist counsellor.

In the wake of the pandemic, these needs have intensified. More and more we are seeing how the effects of lockdown have taken a greater toll on the mental health and wellbeing of our young people. Dan says, “in essence schools closed overnight, yet those we work with didn’t suddenly disappear. Their needs were still just as important on the day after lockdown as they were the day before.”

Nearly a third of young people in the UK who received mental health services and support prior to the pandemic are now unable to access support.[1] The crisis has compounded existing inequalities and spiked abuse.[2] And during this mental health “epidemic”[3] young people are battling feelings of isolation, anxiety about the world they’re inheriting and frustration about being left out of the discussion about their own recovery.[4]

Dan continues, “the reality is that the pressures on children’s and young people’s mental health are increasing significantly. We are seeing children and young people unable to understand or verbalise how or what they are feeling and what is expressed is anger, upset or frustration.”

Dan stresses that relationships are the key to east to west’s success, and it’s through their earned, trusted rapport with young people that they are able to make a difference, “we recognise that some wellbeing and mental health issues can be resolved relatively quickly… it may be a case of someone needing to offload to someone they trust, however for many of those we support, there is no quick fix and time and a commitment to being there to support is what is needed.”

In March, when lockdown happened, most mental health services were forced to quickly shift to online support. For young people this shift was not always easy; many had concerns about privacy at home and others faced gaps in their access to technology.^[5] The Community Foundation for Surrey has been there to help east to west keep crucial relationships intact. By providing an initial emergency response grant, the charity did not have to furlough any staff and could continue to work alongside young people to keep that all important connection. When east to west found people struggled to engage through phone calls, they eventually moved online, learning and growing with the young people themselves about what works best.

Most recently, a grant of £50,000 has been awarded by the Foundation to a group of 8 Surrey charities – including east to west – to help deal with the surge in demand for children and young people’s mental health services following the Coronavirus Pandemic.

It is currently unknown what the long-term effects of lockdown and the pandemic will be on our young people. For Dan effective mental health support is a long-term commitment hinging on investing time and energy into developing trusting relationships with young people. In his words, “if I had one word of advice to those reading this… invest in the young people you’re supporting… it sounds simple, but it is so effective!”

Our recent Children and Young People’s Mental Health Webinar brought together Surrey charities working to support our local young people with their mental health needs. Click here to find out what we heard!

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/mental-health-support-young-people-coronavirus-a9611661.html

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/07/children-risk-health-visitors-count-cost-lockdown

[3] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-youth-mental-health-pandemic-uk-a9614841.html

[4] https://www.charitytoday.co.uk/young-people-call-on-government-to-prioritise-mental-health-in-uks-coronavirus-recovery/

[5] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/mental-health-support-young-people-coronavirus-a9611661.html

“I hate to say it because it’s brought tragedy to so many, but the coronavirus has really lifted this old veil off of domestic abuse and has exposed it for what it is. It’s given people an opportunity to actually think about how awful it would be, because they’ve now experienced isolation.”

Charlotte Kneer is CEO of I Choose Freedom (formerly Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid), a charity that accommodates and supports survivors in our four refuges across Surrey.

Charlotte felt “driven by force” to act when she heard about the lockdown restrictions in March. “I had just the biggest sense of connection to all the women that would be experiencing lockdown with their abusers.”

Hidden in Plain Sight

The coronavirus has devasted many communities, but Charlotte is glad to at least see much needed attention being paid to the issue of domestic abuse. “I think the very first step that we as a society and a community need is to stop believing that it is not our business to get involved. We need to make the private public because it is everyone’s business.”

In Surrey it is estimated there were 21,400 female victims of domestic abuse prior to the coronavirus crisis.[1] Frustratedly, Charlotte says “You know, the one thing I hear time and time again? Is that domestic abuse doesn’t happen in Surrey. And I can tell you that actually it does happen in Surrey – it happens across all socioeconomic groups, races, religions. There is no area of society that remains untouched by domestic abuse.”

Nationally, some estimate that the number of women killed doubled during lockdown.[2] The difference between a women surviving her abuse and being killed often rests in her ability to leave. Something that Charlotte states plainly, “I know that sounds awful, but that is the reality. This is what these women are fleeing from, the risk of murder.”

This has becoming increasingly difficult as the number of refuge bed spaces in England is 30% below what the Council of Europe recommends.[3]

According to Charlotte though, the county of Surrey is a “leading example” of a local authority that recognises the critical need of these safe refuge spaces for women. “I think that [when there is a needs assessment done] we will all find out that Surrey is providing what it should be providing and is a leading light in provision of refuge spaces.”

The New Refuge

Acting on the urgent calls from community groups, like Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid and Your Sanctuary, Surrey County Council, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and the Community Foundation for Surrey partnered to create a new building for survivors of domestic abuse.

Over £58,000 was awarded to the domestic abuse charity by the Community Foundation for Surrey. This funding came from the Foundation’s Coronavirus Response Fund Phase 2 grant-making, as well as from the Dora Fedoruk Memorial Fund and the Netherby Trust Fund, both managed by the Community Foundation. Extraordinarily, in the span of four weeks, a building provided by the Council has been fitted with all the benefits of home.

As Charlotte says, “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves really to get it open [for when lockdown ended] because I wanted to be open for when women may have their first opportunity to escape. Literally every friend and their dog has been helping out, getting this place up and running. I haven’t stopped working nights and weekends for the last six weeks really.”

They’ve been able to welcome eight families, with the scope of eventually growing to 20. The quick response by the Community Foundation for Surrey meant the families had all new soft furnishings and white goods. An absolutely vital detail according to Charlotte, “I stayed in a refuge years ago. My son was seven when we went, and I remember him being terrified of this big old building that we stayed in. He wouldn’t even go to the bedroom on his own. So I know that women need to arrive somewhere that feels homely and that makes them feel safe.”

There’s still much to be done. The capacity for the refuge means they must slowly accept new families, and within a minute of a space opening up it is filled. The weight of having to disappoint so many women is tough on Charlotte.

But she remains hopeful. She enjoys seeing what this new building means to the families living there.

“We’re still putting finishing touches to it, but we’ve had women and children come and they absolutely love it. It was important to make this place nice because I think it says to the women when they come in that you’re valued, that you’re worth it.”

[1] https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s43409/Item%207%20-%20Annex%205.pdf

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/15/domestic-abuse-killings-more-than-double-amid-covid-19-lockdown

[3] https://www.womensaid.org.uk/research-and-publications/the-domestic-abuse-report/

How the lockdown and its on-going uncertainties will affect our mental health won’t be completely understood for some time, but it has been one of the most worrying indirect issues of the Coronavirus in the UK. Recognising this concern early on, the Community Foundation for Surrey quickly awarded £118,000 in emergency grants across mental health organisations in Surrey.

These organisations, such as Surrey Heath Age Concern (SHAC), are supporting elderly residents who are dealing with on-going anxiety from being in the high-risk category or suffering bereavement because of the loss of their spouse. And others, like Emerge Advocacy, are offering crucial emotional support to Surrey’s young people who are dealing with mental health issues without access to their usual coping resources. Each are now facing new the challenge of isolation.

Surrey Heath Age Concern’s befriending scheme and regular telephone calls to its service users means that since lockdown started Tracy Hiney, the Charity Manager, and her Befriending Coordinator, Angela, are making upwards of 50 check-in phone calls a day. For Joy Wright, the founder of Emerge Advocacy, it has meant a mass outreach strategy to every young person they’ve met in hospital over the last 6-months:

“We sent a little text just to say ‘hi, we’re just checking in and we’re offering extra support during lockdown, if you’d like a chat just let us know.’ And quite a few young people got back to us and said ‘Yes, please!’ That’s why I’ve been extra busy, because although we’ve not been going and getting new people [at the hospital] we’ve actually got back some people that we had previously finished with.”

What has held true in both Tracy and Joy’s outreach experience during almost 10 weeks of lockdown is that each person, regardless of age, needs a meaningful connection and the reassurance that someone cares during trying times.

Tracy has prioritised this type of connection at SHAC, “I mean, the Council do very well. They’re phoning [elderly] people once a week, but it’s ‘Ok, have you got enough food and everything you need?’ They need more than that. They need to talk about their family. They need to talk about what they’ve done in their life. They need to talk about their worries. That’s what we do.”

These worries, Tracy says, are things such as collecting their prescriptions, food parcels and fears of getting the virus. Some worry about being a burden to their loved ones, “sometimes they don’t want to tell their families [about their worries or needs] because they don’t want to worry their families, but they’ll talk to someone that’s a little bit distant. I’ve built a trust with them.”

Listening to fears and sadness is common right now for mental health professionals. Joy found Emerge Advocacy has been able to offer similar support to its young clients. A girl whose mother had passed away, recently spoke of how much sadness she was feeling. Despite encouragement from Emerge she wasn’t comfortable speaking with her dad about this sadness for fear of making him sad during an already difficult time.

Having a reliable and caring support service that exists outside the immediate family has been an essential comfort for many people in Surrey during this tense and raw period.

Joy says the Foundation’s grant has meant they were able to achieve their foremost priority of maintaining continuity in their services to help avoid any young people “spiralling” in crisis.

“We really are running at capacity at the moment in terms of the amount of support that we’re able to give. I even had a mum say thank you for supporting her daughter through this crazy time, [keeping up the conversations] have helped her to just feel a bit more normal about things.”

Joy says it was the “insightfulness” of the Foundation, in anticipating the need for mental health services and awarding grants quickly, that ensured that Emerge Advocacy could meet its increased demand.

“We’re just really grateful to the Community Foundation that they were so responsive and made the process so streamlined. They trusted us to know that we’re still going to do our best for young people, sure we’ve had to pivot but we’re still going to be doing what we’re set up to do in the midst of all of everything.”

For Tracy the grant has been a crucial stopgap that has helped them stay afloat. It has covered the short-term loss of income from closing The Rainbow Café in March. The café, which acts as a community meeting space for those 50 years or older, usually made just enough to cover salaries and the expenses of the befrienders. In the long-term Tracy knows she’s going to have to apply for additional funding. The staggered lifting of restrictions means all of her clients will be the last ones under lockdown and require assistance the longest.

But she will “persevere”, as she says; “they’ve been through their lives. They’ve done so much. And they’ve got to be treated with respect and kindness.”

Grants from our Coronavirus Response Fund have been supporting inspiring local initiatives who are getting food to our most vulnerable, supporting our most isolated elderly residents, and adapting other vital services to ensure people with the highest needs continue receiving the help they require. 

Oakleaf Enterprise has been helping people in Surrey to manage their mental ill-health since 1995. The charity supports adults of working age, at any point in their mental health crisis or recovery, to develop the skills, confidence and training needed to return to the workplace.

Oakleaf HQ is also one of Surrey’s Safe Havens. A Safe Haven is an alternative to A&E, providing out of hours help to people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. During the coronavirus lockdown, Oakleaf’s HQ Safe Haven has remained open for the community.

When lockdown happened in March, Oakleaf had to completely and quickly reassess how to continue supporting hundreds of their regular clients. At Oakleaf opportunities for real social connection are key, many of their services depend on activities that promote in-person social connection amongst clients – something that social distancing would suddenly prohibit.

The answer meant that, for the first time ever, Oakleaf had to shift to completely remote services.

Jen Clay, the charity’s Fundraising and Partnerships Manager says: “We have a large number of individuals who don’t live with friends or family and live alone, and therefore are quite isolated. The only time they left their house was to come to Oakleaf and now that’s been taken away. So that’s where us providing remote support has become just so essential.”

The emergency £5,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Surrey from their Coronavirus Response Fund, meant that the charity could quickly move its support services online and offer remote counselling to its now even more isolated clients. Using technology such as Zoom, meant they could continue their important check-ins and even the regular group activities that so many in Surrey have come to rely on.

Jen says the silver-lining of this fast turnaround of remote services is they’re seeing a new mix of people in their groups. Where some clients found travel to Oakleaf a barrier and others had scheduling conflicts, now more people have more access to different activities.

“We have this fantastic mixing around of people trying new things and being involved in different activities each week. And it’s been giving people new opportunities to meet others who they never would have crossed paths with before!” says Jen.

The success of this remote shift has meant that when lockdown ends, Oakleaf has a new way to reach more vulnerable people. When it is again safe, Oakleaf plans to still advocate for the type of connection only in-person interactions can provide but knowing that they have a new tool in their belt to support Surrey residents has been an unexpected win during a difficult time.

To find out more about Oakleaf Enterprise and their services, visit their website here.